Agitator for powder feeding apparatus



June 13, 1950 w. c. DENISON, JR 2,511,332

AGITATOR FOR POWDER FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 7, 1948 TN 32//'A W i 42 t2 2 .z 2o

INVENTOR 2| 5M 'WILLIAM c. DENISON JR.

Y MFW 1 v tion between'the agitator and the'actuator and "means so constructed as to causethe powdered 7 material to move intoa mold in such a way that iment of the invention is'clearly shown. I e 4 Patented June 13, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AG ITATOR FOR POWDER FEEDING APPARATUS William C. Denison, Jr., Powell, Ohio, assignor to The Denison Engineering Company, Columbus, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October '1, 1948, Serial No. 53,278

, I This inventionv relates generally toapparatus for forming articles from powdered materials and is .more specifically directed to mechanisms for transferring and feeding powdered materialsto dies, in which articles arejforrned from'the pow- ,deredmaterials, f H. 1

' It is an object of this invention to, provide apparatus for transferring pulverized material from a hopper to a mold and'to providesuch apparatus with mechanism whereby the powdered materials will be'readily discharged from the apparatus when it is in registration .with'a mold.

A further object of'the invention is to. provide apparatus for transferring pulverized material 7 from a loading .point toaydischarge point, and to provide ,such' apparatus with an agitator having 'a plurality of surfaces which urge ,the'material in an. upward direction 1 when the. agitator is moved relative to the transferring apparatus.

A still further object of the invention is to pro- "l vide apparatus for transferring pulverulent ma- "terial from a hopper toa'mold, the apparatus'ineluding a compartment forming member and an agitatondisposed, in said 'compartmentforming 7 member for'movement therewith and "relative thereto. The apparatusyalso including an actuating mechanism for reciprocating the; compartment formingmember between loading and unloading positions, there being a direct conneca lost motion connection between the latter and the compartment forming member, so that relative movementwill take place betweenxthe agi- 'tator and the compartment formingmember upon the initiation of operation in eitherdirection by the actuator. I H f J Another objectof the invention isto provide powder transferring apparatus of the type mentioned in thepreceding paragraphs with agitating a more uniform distribution of the powderin the moldwillbe secured. j

This invention relates to, the type of apparatus for transferring pulverized material "to a ore shown in 'the copending application Serial No.

j 790,165 'of 'Willard K. Carter, filedl'December 6,

1947, and assigned to The Denison Engineering C mpany."

Further. objects. and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from'the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferredformof embod- In the drawings: j V d V Fig. 1 is a vertical, longitudinal sectional view 'taken through afeeding mechanism formed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail horizontal sectional view taken on the plane indicated'by the '1ine IIII of Fig. 1.

4 Claims. (01. 18-30) Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 20. designates the compartment-forming member of a feeding apparatus of the, type shown in the above-mentioned copending application to which attention is directed for further information regarding the press to which the feeding mechanism is applied. The actuating means for the feeding mechanism is also shown in thiscopending application.

The compartment forming member 20 is of substantially rectangular form. including front,

rearand side walls 2|, Hand 23, respectively.

'These wallsl forma rectangular compartment 24 which is open at the bottom and is partly Zclosed at the top by a .plate 25, this .plate having an opening 26 to permit powdered materials to gravitate into the compartment 24 from a hopper 21 located at the loading point of the transferring apparatus. The compartment forming member or box .29, as it will be hereinafter termed, is disposedon a flat plate 28, Which forms a part of a press, in whichthepowdered materials are transf ormed into. finished articles.

Suitable guiding means (not shown) ,may be providedfor the box to insure the proper movement thereof from .a position in registration with the hopper 21 to a discharge position over a mold (not shown). f

Th Qpresent invention relatesto the construction, of an agitator, indicated generally by the numeral 3fl, and itfis therefore, believed that only bare details of the powder transferring box and other mechanisms are necessary herein for an understanding oftheinvention.

The box 20 has a partition 3|, extending transversely betweenthe side members 23 to separate the powder receivingcompartment 24 from the rear portion of the box, this rear portion containing a lostmotion connection indicated generally by the numeral 32. This lost motion connection '32 joins the material transferring box to anactu- 'ator 33, the forward portion only of'which is illustrated in thdrawingl 'Ihis actuator may be of any, suitable type. a hydraulic power unit, in-

cludinga cylinder and piston, being shown in the copending application, thepiston rod thereof, being indicated in Fig. l of the accompanying drawing by the numeral Suitable control-mechanism is; provided to cause the reciprocation of the piston in the powercylinder,which reciprocatory movement ijsftransferred by-the piston rod 34 to the box 2!! and the agitator 30 disposed therein. 'To maintain'the surface of the supporting plate 28 clean, so that no undue resistance to movement-of the box 20 wil1 be developed, the

"rrom w u- 2| and'the partition 3! are provided with resilient wiping strips 35, similar strips also being provided between the lower edges of the hopperil and the top plate 25 of the box 20.- As illustrated in Fig. 2, the agitator 30 is directly conon the part of the agitator.

42, secured to the inner face of the wall 22.

nected by rods 36 with the power unit, the latter having a cross head 31 secured to the outer end of the piston rod 34. It will be seen from the foregoing that when the piston rod of the power unit is reciprocated, the motion thereof will be transmitted directly to the agitator 39 through the rods 36. It will also be obvious that due to the lost motion connection 32 the motion of the rod 34 will also be transferred to the box 20, but initial movement of the box 2%) will be delayed until after the agitator has started to move. Due

to the difference in starting instants of the agitator and box 2!], the powdered material in the latter will be agitated.

As pointed out in the above-mentioned copending application, the control mehcanism for the power cylinder is of such type that when the box 29 has been brought into registration with the mold aseries .of vibratory impulses, or, reciprocations will he imparted to the piston of the power unit to cause a relatively rapid vibration This vibration will shake the contents of the box 23, causing the same to be rapidly discharged into the mold. Any

tendency of the powdered material to pack in the at will be counteracted.

The lost motion connection 32 is substantially identical with that shown in the above-mentioned copending application; it includes a stud which projects from the cross head 31 through the rear wall 22 of the box 20, this stud is provided with a shoulder 38 and an extension 40 projecting therefrom, through a web 4| formed in a block The extension 40 is threaded at its outer end as at 42 to receive a threaded ferrule 43 and a lock nut 44. The spacing between the ferrule and the shoulder 38 is such as to permit the piston rod 34 to move a limited distance in either direction without transmitting motion to the box 270. Shock absorbing rings 45 are provided between the shoulder, the ferrule and the web 4!.

The agitator 30 includes a frame 46 having a transversely extending rear bar 41 to which the rods 36 are attached and spaced side bars 48 secured to the ends of the bar 41. The side bars 48are disposed in close proximity to the side walls of the box 20 and are attached to the ends of spaced transversely extending agitating elements 58. In the form of the invention illustrated, the elements 59 are composed of strip material but it should be obvious that bars or other shapes could be employed if desired. These elements provide upwardly and rearwardly sloping surfaces l, which are normal to forwardly and upwardly lines of force indicated by the arrows 52 in Fig. 1. These arrows 52 indicate the direction in which materials will be propelled by the elements 50 when the agitator is vibrated after the box 20 has been moved into registration with the mold. It should be obvious that the agitator will tend to break up packed powdered material or prevent any tendency of the material to form cakes. Due to the spacing and the inclination of the bars, the material will be conveyed step-bystep toward the forward-portion of the box by the successive vibrations of the agitator. Due to the step-by-step movement of the powdered material and the elevation thereof between each step, the material will be caused to pack a trifle more firmly in the forward portion of the mold and when the box 20 is retracted will cause a more uniform distribution of the powder in the mold, thus compensating for the tendency of the forward wall 2| of the box to pack the material 4 more firmly at the rear portion of the mold during the retraction of the box after the mold has been filled. It has been found that heretofore the striking-off of the powdered material by the forward wall of the box caused an undue packing of material at the rear portion of the mold.

' When this material was pressed to form an articonveyed to the forward part of the mold by a tossing procedure, which causes a slightly greater compaction and concentration of the material in this portion of the mold and upon the withdrawal of the box, a more uniform filling of the mold results. When the material in the mold thus filled is compressed, the resulting article ,has a more uniform density. 1

While the invention has beenillustrated in one of its simplest forms, it should be obvious that any minor variations may be made therein without departing from the fundamental principles .of the invention.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, .all coming within the scope .of the claims which follow:

I claim:

1. In apparatus for transferring pulverulent material from a loading .to a discharge point, ;a plate-like support; a compartment forming member disposed on said support for movement between loading and discharge points; agitator means in the compartmentinsaid membensaid agitator means having a plurality of spaced transversely extending upwardly and rearwardly tilted strips disposed for movement with and relative to said member; and actuating means for IB- ciprocating said member and agitator, initial operation of said actuating means in either direction serving to move said agitator relative to said member prior to moving said member.

2. In apparatus for transferring pulverulent material from a loading to a discharge point, .a plate-like support; a compartment formingemember disposed on said support for movement between loading and discharge points; agitator means in the compartment in said member, said agitator means having a plurality of spaced transversely extending bar elements with rearwardly and upwardly tilted front surfaces vdisposed for movement with and relative to said member; and actuatingmeans for said member and agitator, initial operation of said actuating means in either direction serving to move said agitator relative to said member prior to moving said member.

3. In apparatus for transferring .pulverulent material from a loading to .a discharge point, a plate-like'support; a compartmentforming member disposed on said support for movement between loading and discharge points; agitator means in the compartment in said memher,..said agitator means having a plurality of spaced transversely extending bar elements with upwardly and rearwardlysloping front surfaces and connecting bars at the ends of said elements all said bars being movable relative to and in unison with said member; actuating means for said member and agitator; means directly connecting said agitator to said actuating means; and a lost motion connection between said actuating means and said member.

4. In apparatus for transferring pulverulent 5 material from a loading to a discharge point, a compartment forming member disposed for reciprocation between loading and discharging positions; agitator means in the compartment in said member, said agitator means having a frame and a plurality of upwardly and rearwardly sloping transversely extending members; and a lost motion connection between said member and said agitator.

WZELIAM C. DENISON. JR.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

